Mother and son accept Danish evacuation offer

An 8-year-old boy and his mother have agreed to Denmark’s Foreign Ministry’s offer to help evacuate them from the al-Roj camp in Syria, their lawyer Knud Foldschack confirms. The timing of their return is uncertain, but it is hoped to occur within weeks, with details undisclosed for security reasons. This evacuation will mean all Danish children have been removed from Syrian camps. The High Court recently ruled that both mother and child could be repatriated, reversing lower courts’ decisions that had supported the state’s stance against repatriating the mother, a non-Danish citizen. Danish police are expected to travel to Syria for the repatriation, and the woman is likely to be imprisoned upon arrival in Denmark for joining ISIS. Efforts are being made to minimize the trauma for the child who has already suffered five years in the camp.